Our History

A brief history of our school…

There is a record of there being a school in North Rigton from the very early date of 1769, when a ’10d was paid for a lock for the schoolhouse and 12s. 8d for repairs of schoolhouse glazing’. The first school was built by the Earl of Harewood and Reverend Henry Blunt, Rector of Kirkby Overblow and North Rigton in 1851 from funds obtained from the National Schools Reform Act of 1833. The Building of the School House was funded by the wife of Rector Henry Blunt. This is now a private dwelling house lying adjacent to the school.

In February 1982, an office was built for the school, which was a huge step forward, and although small, it was an office, a staff room, a spare room and a confidential conference room rolled into one. This was paid for by the parents and families of the children attending the school at the time. The plaque is still on the wall in the stairwell where you can see the size of the space created beyond the schoolhouse. At this point the school house was ‘partitioned’ into two classrooms. Some time later a mobile classroom was erected on the top playground, where the infants were housed.

In 2003 the original hall was extended and three further classrooms, a main entrance hall, improved toilets, an upstairs office, intervention suit or ‘spare room’ and a staff room were created. The change was and still is enormous giving modern up to date facilities within an historic and beautiful setting.

In late 2010, we commenced a further building project, which was completed in February 2011.

The project was to create an additional classroom, which now means that all classes have a dedicated room. The School Hall can now be used for Collective Worship, lunch, PE, school performances and productions and many other activities. The Office space and Staffroom have been much improved. We have provided an additional toilet block for the sole use of the Early Years Class. The whole building has been repainted, which gives a new and fresh look in the School.